EXCLUSIVE: 5 Columbus Circle Snags 2

Two tenants have signed leases at 5 Columbus Circle totaling 17,000 square feet of space.

One of the deals, a 5,500 square foot transaction with 1Life Healthcare on the building’s 17th floor, was done for rents around $70 per square foot, among the highest the building has ever netted, even during the real estate boom before the recession.

5 Columbus Circle.

Edward Wartels, a vice president at CresaPartners, repped 1Life in the deal.

The deals, not to mention a huge lease signed next door at 3 Columbus Circle this week, bring into focus the rise of Columbus Circle as an increasingly popular destination for office tenants.

Jeffrey Rosenblatt, an executive with the real estate services company Newmark Knight Frank who is the agent for 5 Columbus Circle, said that, in addition to the location, tenants have been drawn to the property, which was built in 1912, for its historic and ornate lobby as well as other amenities. Spaces in the 22-story building, starting at about the 13th floor, boasts coveted views of Central Park and offices on the top floors have working fireplaces.

“5 Columbus is about to celebrate its 100th anniversary and the character of the building reflects its history,” Mr. Rosenblatt said. “The lobby speaks for itself, you walk in and it’s like wow. You don’t expect something this nice walking in from the street.”

The building is the only significant commercial real estate asset owned by a family whose business is primarily in the shipping industry. In recent months, Mr. Rosenblatt said that the property’s address, which used to be 1790 Broadway, was rebranded as 5 Columbus Circle in order to better market the building’s location.

“With 1790 Broadway, people who aren’t in the real estate business don’t know if you’re on Wall Street or 57th Street,” Mr. Rosenblatt said. “Columbus Circle has become a real hot location and we wanted people to recognize where we are.”

This week the advertising firm Young & Rubicam completed a 340,000 square foot deal at 3 Columbus Circle, a building directly adjacent to 5 Columbus Circle. Y&R will purchase about 215,000 square feet of the space as a condo interest in the building and signed a lease for the rest.

The tenant who will be taking space at 5 Columbus, 1Life Healthcare, is a high-end medical practice that offers patients the convenience of zero wait times, unlike a typical doctor’s office where patients typically have to wait an hour or more even for schedule appointments.

“Typically we prefer office tenants but we were very comfortable with 1Life,” Mr. Rosenblatt said. “It’s not the kind of use that’s going to bring patients flooding in and out of the building.”

Riverside Associates, an affiliate of nearby St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, is an orthopedic practice that will use the location for consultations.

5 Columbus has little vacancy left, Mr. Rosenblatt said. The building has been attractive to tenants but it has also had good fortune. The Hearts Corporation occupied almost 90,000 square feet in the property but left the space vacant when it relocated operations into its new headquarters tower nearby on Eighth Avenue.

“Fortunately it was still during the boom and we could lease the space pretty easily,” Mr. Rosenblatt said of the large hole Hearst left behind.

Columbia Artists Management Inc., a talent agency for orchestra performers and conductors, filled the sixth and 16 floor. Columbia University also leases space on three floors, 2, 4 and 12, for a fertility clinic.

One of the few space that is available is a 4,500 square foot portion of the 15th floor.